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Monday: 18th December 2017

OPENING CALL: The Australian market looks to open higher with SPI Futures up 29 points.

The Australian share market looks set to open nearly half a percent higher after signs that US political holdouts will support the Republicans’ tax reform bill pushed Wall Street’s key indexes to fresh record highs.

Wall Street’s three major indexes have climbed to fresh record closing highs with broad-based gains as a long-awaited bill to cut corporate tax rates looked like it would win enough support from lawmakers to pass.

Overnight Summary

Each Market In Focus

The Australian share market looks set to open nearly half a percent higher after signs that US political holdouts will support the Republicans’ tax reform bill pushed Wall Street’s key indexes to fresh record highs.

At 0700 AEDT on Monday, the share price futures index was up 29 points, or 0.48 percent, at 6,037.

In economic news on Monday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics releases November’s new motor vehicle sales data while the CoreLogic capital city house prices for the week just ended is also due out.

No major equities news is expected.

The Australian market on Friday fell, driven by falls in banking and utilities

Wall Street’s three major indexes have climbed to fresh record closing highs with broad-based gains as a long-awaited bill to cut corporate tax rates looked like it would win enough support from lawmakers to pass.

In the US, Republican Senator Bob Corker joined Senator Marco Rubio in signalling support. Rubio had criticised the initial proposal, saying it did not give enough tax relief to working families, while Corker, had expressed concerned about the bill’s impact on the federal deficit.

Republican Senator Bob Corker joined Senator Marco Rubio in signaling support in the late afternoon. Rubio had criticised the initial proposal, saying it did not give enough tax relief to working families, while Corker, had expressed concerned about the bill’s impact on the federal deficit.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.58 percent, to 24,651.74

The S&P 500 gained 0.90 percent, to 2,675.81.

The Nasdaq Composite added 1.17 percent, to 6,936.58.

The S&P 500 and the Dow closed higher for the fourth week in a row, while the Nasdaq saw its first weekly gain out of three.

U.S. oil prices rose and the global benchmark fell Friday, as prices were supported by a pipeline outage in the North Sea, but higher forecasts for U.S. output in 2018 from major energy groups this week limited gains.

U.S. crude futures rose 26 cents, or 0.46%, to $57.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent, the global benchmark, fell 8 cents, or 0.13%, to $63.23 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

The U.S. dollar rose as Republicans in Congress appeared to move closer to passing a tax-cut package.

The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which measures the currency against a basket of 16 others, rose 0.3% to 87.10.

The U.S. currency was supported by signs of progress on tax-overhaul efforts as Republican leaders planned to make more of the child tax credit refundable in a last-minute concession to Sens. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) and Mike Lee (R., Utah), potentially clearing one of the last big hurdles to pass the plan.

Australian Dollar:

The Australian dollar has slipped against its stronger US counterpart as support firms for the Trump administration’s tax reform bill.

At 0635 AEDT on Monday, the Australian dollar was worth76.60 US cents, down from 76.72 US cents on Friday.

European shares fell on Friday, weighed down by weakness in the heavyweight banking sector and a slump in retail stocks following a disappointing trading update from fashion brand H&M.

The pan-European STOXX 600 lost 0.2 percent and posted a 0.3-percent fall over the week as resurfacing worries over political risk spurred profit-taking and offset continued optimism in the region’s economic recovery.

H&M plunged 13 percent, leading losers on the STOXX, after the world’s second-largest fashion retailer reported an unexpected drop in quarterly sales as fewer shoppers visited its stores.

Germany’s DAX gained 0.27 percent to 13,103.56.

Britain’s major stock index climbed at the end of a busy week of central bank meetings, reversing earlier losses thanks to a sliding pound and buoyant oil stocks.

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